Angelica
by Opal
Summary: Except for the Dursleys, Harry has no living blood relations. Right? Well, it WAS right...
1. The Malfoy Estate

**Author's Note:** As usual, I disclaim. Anything that sounds like it might not belong to me probably doesn't. That's over with, let me just warn you. Serious confusionary, depressing-fic thing happening here. Please, do read it and review.. *gets teary eyed* it would really make me a hapy little childe....     1. The Malfoy Estate

    Harry Potter was, for once in his life, having a pretty good birthday. Midnight, as his birthday dawned found Harry sleepless, and going over his already packed trunk for the millionth time. "wand, firebolt, cauldron, robes, Hedwig." He said, rattling off a few things in his huge trunk. He looked up at the owl, who was quietly preening inside her cage.     Harry was elated because, for the second summer in a row, he was going to stay with the Weasleys. Apparently, the Dursley's had found that, without Harry in the house, they were a very happy family. So, as soon as he got off the train, and home, they fairly demanded he go stay with someone for the last few weeks of summer. Harry was only too happy to oblige, especially since it meant that he was allowed to send Hedwig to Ron to arrange things, and chat all summer. He slowly closed and locked his trunk, then, yawning, fell back onto his bed. He was sound asleep before his head hit the pillow.     The next morning dawned sunny, with a refreshing breeze. Early in the morning, before the Dursleys got up, Harry had all his stuff down the stairs and at the door. Grumpily, Mr. Dursley opened the door, when a loud, repeated ringing sound signified that someone had apparently knocked on the doorbell. Outside, stood Mr. Weasley, and behind him, the four younger Weasley children.     "Hullo, I'm just here to collect Harry!" said Mr. Weasley, brightly. Harry breathed a sigh of relief that, so far Mr. Weasley wasn't trying to learn anything about Muggles from this visit.     "Take him, AND GET THE HELL OFF OF MY PROPERTY!" Yelled Vernon Dursley, shoving Harry and his stuff out the door, and slamming it behind him.     "Usual Dursley behavior" was all Harry could say, as he helped Fred, George and Ron carry his things down the driveway.     Sitting on the street was a very snappy red car, a Japanese Brand SUV. Harry stopped and looked at it in amazement. He pulled Ron aside, and whispered "is this.. yours?"     "Yeah." Ron said, as he helped load the things into the trunk. "Dad got it off an old wizard who liked to tinker with Muggle cars. He 'confiscated' it." Ron and Harry smiled, knowing Mr. Weasley's fondness for Muggle machines.     They hopped in the car, which, like the Anglica, somehow fit them all with no squishing. "Nice, huh?" Fred asked Harry, as the engine began to purr. "Don't know what Dad's tricked it up to do, but I'm betting it's gonna be spectacular!" he and George looked at each other, and harry could tell they were up to no good.     They turned off of Privet Drive, and onto the deserted Mulberry Lane. It was a long, tree lined avenue, which the Dursleys found to be a "haven of crime". Harry rather liked it, actually.     Mr. Weasley turned to look at the kids in his back seat. "Don't tell anyone, now.." he said, and suddenly, with a jerk, they were on a back alleyway, in a large city. Everyone in the car gasped.     "Like the knight bus?" Harry asked Mr. Weasley. "Sure is. Got the spells right off of it's maker, too." He said, pulling into another driveway. "This.. if we're in the right place.. is Hermione's house." Ron announced.     And, as if on cue, the door opened to produce the selfsame girl. Her hair was braided with long ribbons that trailed onto her back, but other than that, she was the same as a few, ever too long months ago.     "Harry! Ron!" she yelled, and out from the house popped Crookshanks, a spider in his mouth. He dropped it at Ron's feet. This produced what could be described as an amazingly hilarious response from Ron. That is, unless you were anywhere near Ron at the time you told him you saw it as such.     After the poor boy had been calmed some, Hermoine's things were loaded next to Harry's, and they pulled out of her driveway as her parents waved and shouted to her to practice proper oral hygiene.     When the car made another shift to an empty country road, Hermione almost had a heart attack. "You know this is entirely illegal, right Mr. Weasley?" she asked after calming down. The driver only nodded slightly-he was too busy admiring the new ride.     Suddenly, an owl swooped in the open window. It was gray, and large, and had around it's neck the ministry of magic's official seal. It dropped a piece of parchment onto the stunned Mr. Weasley's lap, and settled itself down in Fred's Lap to wait for a response. And a tip.     Mr. Weasley read the letter with growing delight. By the time he had finished it, he was actually almost laughing. And the car was wiggling all over the road. Apparently even magic couldn't make up for bad driving skills.     "We've got it!" he yelled, breathlessly, and the car jumped from the little road outside of a country town to the middle of a forest. "We just got a search warrant for Lucius Malfoy's estate. ALL of it! We're going to get him this time for sure!" the car jumped again, this time to a parked state just in front of a huge set of iron wrought gates. Behind them, the people in the car could see a huge house looming up out of the fog and darkness that shouldn't have fallen before noon.     "I want you all to stay IN THIS CAR." Mr. Weasley said, as he hopped out, and took the keys with him. Fred and George sighed in disappointment. "Don't even THINK of leaving until I get back!" he said, and disappeared into the mist.     The owl, who was still with them, and looking slightly ruffled and confused, made a querying sound at the young wizards and witches in the car. George got the message, and, digging into his pocket, produced a sickle, which he gave the bird. It hooted in thanks, and took off out the window, plainly glad to leave such a gloomy place.     "So…" Harry began. But he was stopped as a great commotion made it's way down the drive, and into view.     A group of what could only be the equivalent of a SWAT team were bringing, or in one case, carrying the Malfoys away. First came two wizards, each in blue uniforms, with long blue and black striped wands, restraining between them Lucius Malfoy. Or maybe restraining wasn't quite the word. Lucius was doing his best to look like he WANTED to be where he was, and this was all something he had planned on. But it wasn't working. He looked, shocking though it was, rather cowed by the large, imposing police force.     Directly behind him, Malfoy's wife was being dragged out. She was kicking and screaming, and struggling viciously to get back to her home. And after her came three brawny wizards, carrying between them an angry, almost purple faced Malfoy. He was totally rigid from the neck down, and one could guess someone had been using a little restrainment spell on him.     By the time Lucius and his escort reached the gates, the entire group of passengers was pressed against the window nearest. Harry and Ron, who were farthest away, made the great discovery of the sun roof, and climbed out of it as high as they could.     Malfoy saw them, and his face turned, if it was possible, and even more outrageous shade of purple, fading into indigo and even a bit of blue. This entertained every single member of the car to no end.     As the strange parade collected itself outside the gates, they were suddenly not there anymore. "They diss-apparated." Hermione stated simply enough.     Ron turned to Harry and Hermione. "Both Fred and George have failed THREE straight apparition tests." He said, trying hard to keep a straight face. Fred and George stared daggers at him.     "Now... where shall we go in the Malfoy estate?" Fred asked. George copied his mischievous look. And Hermione put her foot down. Literally. The tower of people against the window collapsed, and Hermione's foot ended up firmly planted on Fred's face.     After they had all gotten them selves sorted out, Hermione objected. "We're supposed to stay in the car! We could get in major trouble with the ministry of magic!"     "Hermoine, you're paranoid. We won't get in trouble…" Fred said.     "As long as we don't get caught!" finished George.     And with that, they hopped out of the car. "I'm staying here!" Hermoine yelled, as Harry and Ron followed them. Ginny hesitated, looking from her brothers to Harry, to Hermione, up to the mansion, and back to them all again. Finally, she leaned out and pulled the door shut. "Get yourselves arrested if you want to!" she yelled as the four boys turned and slipped through the gate.     Silently, the boys crept up the hill, startling again and again at sounds coming from the house. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, they found themselves at the back door, the servant's entrance. "Shall we?" Fred asked, with a devilish grin on his face.     "Um… It's locked…" Ron said, pulling on the handle, to no avail.     "Why should a little thing like THAT stop us?" George asked, and pulled out his wand. With one flick of his hand, the door swung open. "After you…" George beckoned them into the darkened house.     It was gothic. WAY gothic. "I can see how Malfoy would enjoy a place like this…" Harry muttered as they passed the third medieval torture instrument in a row, each of them kept well polished and in good order.     And almost every door they passed had a little note tagged to it, reading "checked". The rooms contents had been sorted through, and anything dangerous or illegal had been removed.     "Hey! C'mere!" George, who was a few feet ahead of Harry and Ron, suddenly stopped, looking down to the floor. A large, and rather obvious wooden door was sitting there. "A trap door! And the room hasn't been checked!"     "I wonder how they missed that…" Harry said, out loud, as Fred and George opened the room below them.     They were looking down into something that really could have been a dungeon. A small iron ladder hung down into the room. And a strange, blue glow was seeping out into the ill lit corridor.     Harry gulped, but as it seemed to fall to him to be the hero, he slowly climbed down into the room. Ron followed almost immediately after him. And the twins weren't long in coming, now that whatever trap might be in the room had been enacted upon others.     The entire group gasped at what they saw. A girl was lying on a bed, in the center of the room. Her hair, long and blonde, was spread above her head, and around her body like some angelic aura. Her skin was extremely pale, unblemished in every way. Her eyes were closed, and her face wore an expression of peace. She wore a long white dress, ruffled, and of a Victorian style. One would have almost assumed, as perfect as she was, that she was dead. If not for the steady rising and falling of her chest.     Surrounding her bed were twelve oil lamps, each burning with a brilliant blue flame. They gave her already porcelain skin an undead, sinister cast.     The boys took one look at this and realized they were in over their heads. They escaped back up the stairs, and held a mini-conference in a nearby closet.     "There's a girl… in that basement…" was all that was said for the next five minutes or so.     "We ought to tell someone." Ron said, quite plainly.     "No Way!! Are you crazy?!" the twins responded, in tandem.     "THERE IS A GIRL… LYING IN THE BASEMENT… ASLEEP… SOMEONE NEEDS TO HELP HER…" Ron practically yelled.     "Whoa! Was that Granger talking?" Fred asked.     "Come on Ron. Let's go find your Dad." Harry said, stood up, and left the closet.     Finding a person in a huge, unfriendly mansion can be kind of tough. Especially when you need to bring them back to a certain spot. So Harry, Ron, and sooner or later George and Fred just sort of stood outside of the trapdoor and yelled.     It didn't work. So Fred and George decided to take matters into their own, more experienced attention-getting hands. Err... wands is more like it. They set off a series of incredibly loud booms that no one not deaf could fail to trace to the exact spot they were standing in.     Mr. Weasley and a troupe of the police wizards appeared suddenly, running down the corridor. They all stopped on a dime when they saw the bunch of young boys, one of which being Harry Potter.     "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!?!?!" Mr. Weasley yelled, marching forward. "WHEN WE GET HOME, YOUR MOTHER IS GOING TO SKIN YOU ALIVE!! COMING INTO A DANGEROUS PLACE LIKE THIS….LEAVING GINNY AND HERMOINE, ALL ALONE IN THE CAR I'D EXPECT! YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF YOU-" At that point, he was stopped by the even louder yelling of Ron.     "DAD!! WE FOUND A ROOM UNDER THE FLOOR!! THERE'S A GIRL IN THERE!!" Mr. Weasley made the instant switch from parent to law enforcement.     "Room under the floor??" he asked, before being dragged to the now-closed door. "What room? There's no trap door here… Are you playing some kind of stupid joke? Your mother will have my head for letting you in this place!"     "What? You can't see it? It's right here!" Ron said, tapping it with his foot.     "Wait a minute. I've heard of things like this!" George said, stepping forward. He tapped the door a few times with his wand, in different places, until suddenly, there was a resounding 'PING' sound.     "Why, by golly! There IS a trapdoor there!" Mr. Weasley said. "it must have been enchanted…" The other wizards gathered round to look at the now plainly visible door.     "Less talking, more getting crazy dead girl!" Fred said, opening the door and hopping down into the cellar. Mr. Weasley and two of the burly police wizards followed suit. Harry, Ron and George barely fit into the now crowded chamber. But there was a semicircle of empty space around the girl. No one wanted to get any closer.     Mr. Weasley slowly approached the girl. He gasped when he got a good look at her face, and gestured to a few of the others to come look at her. Feverish whispering erupted, and, for a few minutes, all the boys understood were the occasional words like 'can't believe it' and 'malfoys'll be in Ascaban forever…'     Finally, four of the police-type wizards came out of the huddle, bearing the girl gently in their arms, and hoisted her up the stairs. As she passed by the boys, they could see her complexion was better already, and she looked less dead, and more asleep. Mr. Weasley carefully extinguished all the blue flames, and turned to them. "We have to get home, quickly to get your mother and the others. Then we're going to pay a visit to the Ministry's hospital."     *****peeeeezie review me? 


	2. Angelica

Author's Note: wooot. more story.. hope you enjoy it! ^^! 

2. Angelica     In the car, everyone was silent. Ginny and Hermoine had been filled in on the events, and the strange girl whom everyone seemed to recognize but them, and about the next few stops of their ultra-speed trip.     When they arrived at the Weasley household, Mr. Weasley told them all to REALLY stay in the car this time. He went in, and, after a few tense moments, emerged with Mrs. Weasley, Percy, and Charlie who had been staying over for the summer. They got back in the car, and literally, in the blink of an eye, were sitting in a parking garage.     They all got out, in the same solemn silence, and entered what appeared to be a totally normal muggle elevator. Only, instead of going up, it went down. The buttons were labelled 'Maternity' , 'Emergencies' , 'Long Term Stays' , 'Magical Creatures-Veterinary Dept' , and the likes. Mr. Weasley punched 'Trauma Level 3' and the doors shut. A voice said 'Level Three-Going Down' in the classic automated weather service tone, and then proceeded to ask them all how they were, who they were visiting, how the weather was, and generally, for a few minutes, made excellent conversation.     When they got off, after a few good bye's, and promises to use the same elevator again when they returned, the doors closed with a satisfied click.     The lobby was full of various obviously wizarding folk. One older man, in a scarlet red robe, was wailing about the curse he had put on his own pinkie toe, which was roughly the size of a small dog.     The Weasleys and co. went right up to the receptionist's desk. Mr. Weasley had a few words with the lovely young witch who was working the desk, and soon they were all escorted back into a room entitled 'Suite 308- care of the ministry'.     Inside, the girl was laid out on the hospital bed. Her composure was looking steadily better. On one side of her, a doctor was checking her pulse. On the other, the minister of magic Cornelius Fudge, and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall were sitting by her bedside.     "Ah. Harry. Good to see you here, my boy." Fudge said, turning to him.     "Harry, may I have a word with you outside?" Dumbledore said, at the exact same time. He rose from his chair, and stopped McGonagall from speaking up. "This won't take long. We'll be back long before he needs to be here." And with that, he left the room, beckoning for Harry to do the same.     Harry followed the headmaster down the corridor a bit. The old man turned, and spoke to him in a grave voice, unlike the laughing one he usually used. This voice was reserved for important things, usually dangerous. Harry knew, because he'd had many opportunities to hear it.     "I've heard about what happened this afternoon at the Malfoy estate. No one is going to punish you, or any of the many Weasleys for what you did, but only because if it weren't for you four, Angelica would still be in that cellar.     "You see, the enchantment placed upon the trapdoor worked so that no person who worked for the ministry of magic could see the door, nor anyone with any intention of good. But thanks, I am sure, to the Weasley twins continued mischief making, they were able to see the door, and to break the spell. " Dumbledore stopped at this point.     "But…Professor, why are you just telling me this? Why not tell everyone else as well?" Harry asked.     "You see, Harry, I'm afraid there's going to be a bit of a shock for you in the identity of this young woman. You know that all your relatives except for the Dursleys are deceased, correct?"     "Yes." Harry felt a foreboding sense of doom as Dumbledore continued.     "We may not have been perfectly honest with you regarding the circumstances of some of your closer relation's deaths. Were you aware, for instance, that you had an aunt on your father's side?"     Harry was dumbfounded. He'd never known that. "How.. How did my aunt die?"     "She committed suicide, by throwing herself into the River Thames when she learned that Lily and James were dead. Since her parents had died while she was young, they were her only family. And she was distraught over Sirius's supposed betrayal. They also were incredibly close. Her body was never recovered, and some people claimed she'd been killed by Sirius, and that he'd written her suicide note to cover his tracks."     Harry could say nothing. He felt somewhere between sadness for another relative he'd never know, and anger at the girl who'd taken herself away from his life. "But, it appears that she never died. Your aunt, Angelica Potter is alive and none the worse for what appears to have been fifteen years in stasis."     Harry was dumbfounded. He had another living relative. Another Aunt. Someone who could at last save him from the Dursleys.     "Dumbledore! Hurry! She's stirring!" came Fudge's voice from down the corridor.     When Harry re-entered the room, he looked again at the girl, Angelica, lying on the bed, and moving slightly. While her hair was blonde to his black, it had that same untamable quality. But on her, it gave more of an innocent, angelic look. Her face strongly reminded him of his father's, and of his own. She had the same mouth, though her nose was tiny as a button, her face was only a tad slimmer than his. And suddenly she opened her eyes, gasping and blinking in the light. And they were the same piercing green as his.     She sat up, and looked around. Her eyes were wild. "What's going on? Where am I?" she asked loudly, and though her voice was musical and soft, it seemed panicked.     "Sit down… shhh…" said McGonagall, as she pressed Angelica back onto her bed.     "Professor McGonagall?" she asked, bemused. "And Headmaster Dumbledore? What are you doing here? Your beard looks so long…."     "Calm yourself Angelica… It's all okay…" said Dumbledore. "You've been under a spell, at the home of Lucius Malfoy and his family. Can you remember how that happened?"     Angelica gasped. "That's right! That dirty rat! That dirty, lying, scum! Peter Pettigrew! He's on … on HIS side! He's going to kill James and Lily and Harry! Hurry, someone, go stop him!" she said, breathlessly. Everyone looked at her almost sadly.     "Angelica, I don't know how to break this to you…" Dumbledore said, slowly. Angelica looked at him with fear, and pain, like she knew in her heart they were already dead. "You've been under that spell for fifteen years."     Angelica's head dropped back on her pillow. Her eyes were blank staring at the ceiling, and tears began flowing down her face. "He…" she said weakly after a time. "He got them, didn't he? He killed them…" she closed her eyes, and more tears were squeezed out.     "Yes. Voldemort killed your brother, and Lily." Dumbledore said slowly. Angelica rolled onto her side and collapsed into great, raking sobs. McGonagall patted her on the shoulder, and whispered, barely audible. "it's okay... it's okay…"     "But, Angelica, there is a silver lining to even this cloud. Voldemort didn't kill Harry, your baby nephew." Angelica stopped her sobbing slightly, and now she turned back towards the people. "This is Harry Potter. Harry, meet your aunt."     Harry stepped forward, not quite knowing what to do. Angelica looked at him, and she almost smiled. "I always told them you'd grow up to be handsome. I always told them, from the first moment I saw you…" she said. Harry slowly took the seat across from Dumbledore, which he was motioned into quickly.     "What's…" Angelica stopped as another fit of sobs and coughing racked her body. "What's happened in fifteen years…?"     "Voldemort fell. When he tried to kill Harry, his powers were destroyed, and his body shattered. His followers were imprisoned, and things were slowly healed over time. Ireland won the last World Cup, by the way. Angelica, can you tell me what happened on the night you were enchanted?" Dumbledore asked.     "okay…" she said, and sniffled. "I was in my flat, in London. Whatever happened to my flat, anyway?" she asked.     "It was cleaned out, your things were placed in your Gringott's vault, and it was rented out again." Angelica looked slightly pained at this news.     "I was in my flat, getting ready to go to bed, when suddenly the doorbell rang. It was my brother's friend, Peter Pettigrew. James has… I mean, had been having all his friends who live in London take turns coming around to check on me, since this was the first time I've been living alone in the flat with him more than a block away. So, anyway, Peter comes by to see if I'm okay, or do I need anything, like a faucet to fix, or some heavy things to move. I say, no, I'm fine, but would you like to come in for some tea and muffins? And he says he's quite busy tonight, but maybe he'll have just one muffin, if it's very quick. So I let him in, and he comes to sit on the new couch I'd bought last week. And while I'm in the kitchen, I hear something, so I come back out, and when I get to the main room, someone hits me over the head." She stopped there, her eyes red, to sniffle a bit.     "I come to inside this big old mansion. I'm lying on a bed, in what looks like a dungeon, and all around me, are little blue flames. And standing right in front of me is… it's you-know-who… and Peter is right next to him! I try and get up, to run away, or get my wand, or something, and…"     Dumbledore interrupted her. "It's okay. You can say Voldemort if you want to. It's not going to hurt you, and no one will mind here. Isn't that right?"     "Okay… Voldemort… he... he...has this cup in his hands, and he gives it to a man on his other side. Suddenly, four more people appear out of the shadows…Death Eaters, and they grab my legs and arms, and the one with the cup shoves this disgusting stuff down my throat. I'm hacking and coughing and choking, and then …. Voldemort, he turns to Peter and says to him, good job. You've brought me the Potter girl, and told me where I can find the family. You are truly a good servant, Wormtail. And then Peter BOWS to him. And Voldemort turns to me, and everything starts getting hazy, kind of like my eyes are going out of focus, only it's like everything is going… and he starts laughing… and it seems like he laughs forever." She suddenly started crying uncontrollably again.     Harry turned to Ron or Hermione for help, only to realize the entire Weasley clan, plus visitor, was gone. "They've gone back to the Burrow. We'll provide a ministry car to take you and Angelica when she's ready. I think she should stay with you until school begins." Dumbledore said.     Harry sat by her bedside for hours as she alternately sobbed and slept. Sometimes a doctor would come in, and check on her again. Over the time, he learned that she had been 15 when she disappeared, and that she would be resuming school at Hogwarts in the fall, in the same year as him, also in Gryffindor.     "Professor?" Angelica asked sleepily, during the long hours Harry waited. "Why… Why didn't any one think to look for me?" she asked.     "People did look for you. The entire ministry of magic's search team was on the job 24-7 for a good week and a half before a note surfaced, claiming to be from you, and stating you'd thrown yourself off London Bridge when you heard the news about Lily and James. You had a beautiful memorial service, actually. They buried a casket full of flowers in the Hogwarts Cemetery."     "I…I had a funeral?" she asked, dreamily. "Do I have a grave?"     "Yes… Yes you do…" Dumbledore answered, and realized that the girl was soundly asleep before he even answered. 


	3. Prime Time News Spot

Author Speaks: o_0, not really.. i need, like, suggestions on how to IMPORVE this.. *blank space* meeeeep. 

3. Prime Time News Spot     Sometime after nightfall, Angelica was released from the hospital. Dumbledore and Harry escorted her up to the parking lot and loaded her into the ministry car that was provided. She was still sniffling a little bit, and she fell asleep almost before the car started moving. Harry turned to Dumbledore, who was to ride with them to the Burrow, and said "If she's been asleep for 15 years, why is she sleeping now? Hasn't she got enough of that?"     Dumbledore chuckled "Her body needs time to adjust to being awake again. And she's had quite a shock, you know. It's been 15 years, and she's technically 30 years old now. And had missed half her life." Harry nodded. And before long he too, was asleep in the old black limo.     Someone was shaking him awake. "Harry, Harry, Harry!" It was Ron. He was at the Burrow. "Come on, get a move on! Get up to bed if you're so tired!" Harry looked around. Angelica was being gingerly carried into the house by Charlie and Percy. And Harry decided to let thought of any kind other than snoozing wait until morning.     And morning came, rushing on ahead as usual. Harry woke around ten, and stumbled down the stairs to breakfast, where the headline of the papers was "ANGELICA POTTER FOUND ALIVE IN BASEMENT OF LUCIUS MALFOY;" and below that "Malfoy under arrest in Ascaban with wife" sadly, with son wasn't added, and the article stated that the younger Malfoy was with his aunt and uncle for the duration. The article gave him some interesting information, as well as a picture of Angelica with his father, which was definitely going to go into his scrapbook. The article mentioned him as well, but only briefly. "Angelica is the aunt of the famous Harry Potter, and is staying with him at the home of then Weasleys …" it went on to explain how she'd be resuming her education at Hogwarts, among other things. It also said Lucius Malfoy had been suspended as a school governor there. This made Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny glad to no end.     "Hey Harry!" Ron said through a mouthful of bagel. "Take a look outside if you want to see something REALLY weird."     And it was weird. Peering out through the curtains, Harry could see hundreds of witches and wizards outside, some of them with flowers, some with candy, some just there… News witches were reporting live and taking pictures. And one of them had noticed his face peeking out. About twelve magical microphones were thrust into the open window. "What's your take on all of this, Harry?" "How do you feel about acquiring a new, living relative?" He shut the window and continued his breakfast.     About fifteen minutes later Hermione came down, holding one of Angelica's hands like she could break at any moment, and sat her down for breakfast. "Oh.. I'm starving!" Angelica said, proceeding to stuff her face.     "I haven't eaten that well in fifteen years!" she said a few minutes later. Her color was returning to a normal shade, and her eyes, which had previously been sad and bland, were lively and sparkling. "Come to think of it, I haven't eaten AT ALL in fifteen years!" She laughed at her own joke a bit, and it was cheering. She had a merry laugh, like a thousand pixie bells tinkling.     When Angelica discovered the people outside, or rather, the people outside discovered her, things got a bit out of hand. ALL of the news casters in the entire yards were suddenly cramming themselves into the burrow's front door, trying to be the first to get an exclusive interview. But Mrs. Weasley, thankfully, shut the door in their collective faces. "Good riddance to bad rubbish." she said. Her opinion of the news profession had declined rapidly after she heard the truth about Rita Skeeter.     Angelica, however, couldn't stop looking out the windows. "Wow… all these people came to see me?" she said, astounded. And was rapidly distracted as she too got the microphone treatment.     Mrs. Weasley began barricading the house around noon-time. The original visitors were still there, and more were arriving every minute. Someone had even set up a specific area for people to arrive by Apparation. "Is my house some sort of circus?" she would ask, making her rounds of all the windows and doors, hitting the news crews with spoons and flying gnomes, and attempting to clear a path through the flowers before her house was buried in them.     Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George were playing their sixth round of Exploding Snap when Angelica came down the stairs, dressed in a white peasant necked shirt, and a pair of Hermione's over-large blue jeans. "Can I see some of the people now?" she asked, as she pulled her hair back into two identical pigtails, then braided them.     "I don't see why not dear…" Mrs. Weasley trailed off, realizing she couldn't have kept them all out forever. Angelica slowly stuck her head out the door, hiding behind a particularly huge bouquet of roses, and surveyed the field in front of the burrow. It really DID look like a circus. She came back in a moment later, shaking her head. "I can't tell who's who anymore.. they all look so… so much older!"     It was then that Percy, who had been doing something for work, spoke up. "I've got an idea, I daresay. Why don't you have everyone organize themselves into News casters, visitors, and the general public. And for gosh sakes, get any Muggles who've wandered up here OUT!"     It was true that a few Muggles from the town down the hill had heard the commotion, and joined the throng outside. These were quickly sifted out, and returned to their homes with a little memory altered. Otherwise, Percy and Charlie went through the groups of people calling out "News Casters, Interviews, Pictures, Publicity, OVER THERE!" and pointing to one half of the field. "Personal visitors, HERE! Any others, THIS WAY! Questions? ASK US!" it was generally very entertaining to watch them, and the entire group inside the house did it for quite a while. Fred and George even began marching around the kitchen yelling "Hungry people, AT THE TABLE! Complaints, GO TO MOM! Idiots, MARCH WITH PERCY!"     When the yard had finally been sorted out, the personal visitors were let in one by one. And the first one to walk in the door was Professor Lupin. He, having been one of James's close friends, knew Angelica very well, and he even stopped off for a moment to speak with his former students, who had become door control. (Needless to say, Fred and George were enjoying themselves turning any stray newscasters into Canaries.)     "How are you all doing today?" Lupin asked when he saw Harry. Harry responded that they were fine, if not a bit tired out. Lupin, bearing a box of chocolate frogs, laughed and went into the living room, where Mrs. Weasley had set up camp.     Being the matron that she was, Mrs. Weasley demanded that Angelica, who looked so fragile, should stay sitting. But the moment that Lupin walked in the door, she tackled him in a huge hug. And then attacked the candy. "Yummy…" she said, laughing, and beckoning for him to sit. "What have you been up to in all this time?" she asked, stuffing a whole frog into her mouth.     "Well, just all the same things, really. This and that. Oh, and for a year, I was a teacher at Hogwarts." He said, smiling.     She almost choked on her frog. "YOU, a teacher? This I have to hear all about!" Their conversation continued on for a good half hour, until Lupin finally said he really ought to go if he was going to get any work done at all today. "Come see me again!" Angelica shouted after him. "And bring more candy!"     The next few visitors brought flowers to her, which she piled up on one of the sofa's. But right after her old dorm-mate with a bouquet of white roses and lilies-of-the-valley, along with a box of chocolate truffles, came Hagrid, bearing a mammoth sized box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and a couple more chocolate frogs. These Angelica devoured as well, while talking to the giant game keeper some.     "So you've gotten to be friends with Harry?" she asked, smiling.     "Yeah, he's quite a feller, an' he's helped me out'r trouble lots more times then I cin count."     "Has the school changed much since I was there?" she asked, thoughtfully munching on a truffle.     "Not much really. But I've been made the Care of Magical Creatures Teacher!" Hagrid said. Angelica was ecstatic, since that was one of her favorite subjects, now taught by one of her favorite people.     By the end of the day, the living room was a flood of flowers, and the entire family had been stuffed beyond compare with all the food that Angelica'd been brought. Apparently everyone remembered that she loved sweets more than anything, or almost anything at least.     Angelica was still confined to sitting as much as possible, so the games had been moved onto the couch, for her sake. And she was really talented at Wizard Chess, Harry learned. She was just then beating him for the fourth time, while Hermione and Ron tried desperately to help him, and Ginny laughed herself to pieces. The twins had set up a huge sign, for anyone who came tomorrow, saying "The Weasleys, along with their guests, in consideration of all the wonderful people who've visited us, have moved to Antarctica."     Harry finally decided to stop fighting the loosing chess battle, and had gone upstairs to get the photo album of his parents. He wanted to put in the picture that had been in the post, and to see if Angelica was in any of the pictures.     When he returned, he heard the trademark sounds of Ron being defeated at Chess. Otherwise known as Ron's pitiful howling of "Noooooo….!"     He opened the album to the first picture, the one of his parent's wedding. He was POSITIVE Angelica would have been there. He began looking for her, but was having no luck when suddenly, someone was talking from over his shoulder.     "I was the flower girl. See the one with the long blonde hair, in that ridiculous dress?" Angelica said. And Harry did see her. About two years younger than she looked now, in a hugely puffy dress, with flowers all over her hair. With one hand she was throwing little flower petals at the camera, and with the other, eating a piece of cake. "That was me…" she said, blushing. "it was REALLY good cake, you know." 


	4. To Diagon Alley, and Back Again

4. To Diagon Alley, and back again  
  
The next day dawned bright, sunny and crowdless, possibly due to the barricade of solid chocolate, six inches thick and ten feet high, that Fred and George had erected around the house. Most visitors had to go home with stomach aches before they reached the half way point. Bereft of an inescapable house, Angelica was determined to go buy some new clothes, since the ones she'd owned before were completely out of fashion. So the Weasleys decided to make their annual pilgrimage to Diagon Alley, in order to buy school supplies.   
The first thing they did, upon reaching the Alley courtesy of Floo powder, was to visit Gringotts. The Weasleys, their vault still rather empty, but not as empty as before, took out enough for the two kids they still had to supply. Harry went down to his vault and took out a good amount of money, and it was still FAR from empty. He was the owner of what amounted to a small fortune. And he took enough extra so that Angelica could buy things too. He was not sure, since she had been legally dead up until yesterday, whether she had any money.   
He was wrong. The last vault they visited was hers, and it was almost more full than his. But, that might have been because she also had ALL her furniture in it. She grabbed a purse that was sitting precariously on a dresser of drawers, and then looked around. Something caught her eye, wrapped up in a bit of tissue, lying next to the purse. She looked at it for a long, long time, and then, almost on impulse, grabbed it and shoved it into her purse as well. Then she turned around, and shut the door behind her.   
The dizzying rides over for another year, Harry set out to get the things he'd need for school. But once they'd exited Gringotts, Angelica reached into her purse again, and pulled out a handful of Gold coins. She handed five each to Harry, Ron, Fred and George. "It's just a little bit of a thank you for getting me out of that dreadful place… I couldn't just let what you did for me go unappreciated." She smiled, and the objections that the Weasley parents were making to charity were quelled. It was, as she had pointed out, more of a reward, really, and besides, it was an awful lot of money.   
Ron was gleeful. He could get decent dress robes this year. AND some ice cream, as well.   
The shopping was going along incredibly well. They'd each just gotten everything on their lists, and were heading towards the recreational shops, with Angelica walking along behind, going through her purse. "When's your birthday, Harry?" she asked, absently swinging her shopping bags.   
"It was yesterday, actually." He said.   
"Oh, my gosh, I need to get you a present!" And with that, she grabbed his hand, and was off through the shops. Hermione and Ron, interested, followed them.   
They stopped after a few minutes, and Angelica turned to the breathless Harry. "Umm… what do you WANT?" she asked, feeling rather stupid.   
"Oh, anything nice… maybe one of those?" he asked, a bit jokingly, pointing to the window of the broom store, where they were now. Inside it, showcased in the center, was a huge manual of quidditch moves, and it was about as expensive as a book could get.   
But before he could tell her he was only kidding, she'd raced inside, and, a moment later, was back with the book, gift wrapped. "This was pretty costly, so I'm counting this as making up for the fifteen years I was out of it, okay?" Harry laughed, as he'd heard THAT explanation before- from his Godfather, Sirius.   
Next, Angelica wanted to get an owl. The one she'd had had actually died during her fourth year at Hogwarts. So it was off to the Owlery.   
Inside, Angelica was all over the place at once, cooing and petting all the owls there. Finally, though, she settled herself into the other birds of prey section, for a long decision. There were two birds that captivated her heart. One was a huge Golden Eagle, which sat preening in it's cage, and would occasionally look up to utter it's strange, guttural call. The other was a female, a beautiful white Gyrfalcon, which would nuzzle her hand each time she went to pet it. The Golden Eagle, on the other hand, sometimes would let her stroke it's beautiful feathers, yet sometimes it struck with a biting force.   
"Uh…" Harry came up to her, where she was staring at the two, across the aisle from each other. "I though you had to have an OWL…"   
"Oh, not exactly. People can really bring just about any pet, as long as you don't make a big deal of it… And I want a falcon, personally. Or an eagle." She smiled, cooing at the Gyr, and offering it some little dead rodent, which it snapped up with the greatest of delicacy. "I think I'll take her." She said, and the attendant who'd been hovering near her finally came forward, and took the Gyrfalcon off the shelf. "It's a fine choice, magnificent bird, really." He said, as she paid, in full the huge sum for that Arctic bird.   
Walking out of the store, she said "I think I'll call her Selene. She reminds me of the moon. Any one want to get some Ice Cream now?" she called, racing ahead, Selene giving off her ke-a ke-a ke-a call. And with that, Harry was convinced he had a pretty cool aunt.  
  
After the Ice cream, of which Angelica ate about three dishes, they set off for Ollivander's Wand shop. Angelica marched in like she'd been there yesterday, with a loud yell of "Hello Mr. Ollivander!"  
The elderly man came out of a back room, with a grumble of "Who would be making such a fuss at this hour..". But he stopped when he saw who was calling. He seemed, for a moment, surprised to see the girl. "Twelve Inches, Unicorn hair, made of mahogany, was it not?"   
"Yes, it was.. i.. seem to have lost it…" she said, rather sheepishly. Mr. Ollivander gave her a sharp look, and then thought better of it.   
"Under your circumstances, dear child, we can forgive that. But, what's past is past. Eleven Inches, Maple, Dragon heart string."   
A box far to the back flew off the shelf and landed in the shop owner's hand. He rather ceremoniously passed it to Angelica, who waved it. Nothing happened inside the shop, but outside they heard a crash. "Oh, dear me no.." he said, and replaced the wand. Harry sat down to watch the interesting events unfold.   
They eventually left the store with a unicorn hair, 13 inch Beech wand. That being their last errand, they returned to the Weasley's house. And outside, the crowds were back, and Percy and Charlie could hardly control them.   
More visitors came, including most of the teachers at Hogwarts, and, most memorably, Snape. He certainly looked like he hardly enjoyed being anywhere near Harry, but he was genuinely concerned for Angelica. They had known each other in school, Angelica being only five years her brother's junior. Snape had brought her a bouquet of violets, and, unsurprisingly, some more chocolate. It seemed just the thing to make her a friend, in fact.   
The fact that he was to be one of her future teachers interested Angelica very much. "I didn't think I'd ever end up in a class being taught by YOU…" she said, half laughing, half serious. "If I believed half the things James told me about you… wow…" Snape, oddly, seemed friendly enough to her, but perhaps that was simply because of what she'd been through. It was enough to make Snape friendly even to Harry for a bit, as was demonstrated when he failed to sneer at him while coming in the door. It was a major improvement, in fact.   
Harry was surprised to find Hedwig in his room, waiting with a letter to him, from Sirius. It read the following: "I've read the news that Angelica is alive, and staying with you. I shall be coming as fast as I can to see you both."   
It was a short note, but, as always, Harry was glad that Sirius would be here in a few days.   
  
The next day, however, brought no Sirius, but another surprise. Dumbledore again, along with some of the police from the ministry, to take her official statement.   
She gave it, and then began asking HIM questions. The first off her lips was "What happened to Sirius?"   
Dumbledore looked at her somewhat sadly. "He was framed as being an supporter of Voldemort, as well as being responsible giving Voldemort information that lead to the deaths of Lily and James, and, wrongly, for killing Peter Pettigrew. He was sent to Askaban." Angelica looked blankly at him, like she was staring through a wall. "But he escaped, and, I'm glad to say, the evidence you just gave will likely clear his name."   
Harry, who had been in the other room, but listening still, came over. "He's going to be visiting in a few days, actually." He said. Angelica's eyes lit up, but she stayed restrained, like something was holding her back. Harry, however, was ecstatic at the fact that his godfather would finally be able to stop hiding, and could take him away from the Dursleys for good. He spent that day floating around in a happy haze, and did not really notice the fact that Angelica was doing the same.   
  
The next day brought more visitors. They flooded the yard, and people demanded news of why Angelica had given evidence that cleared Sirius Black. She said nothing, staying inside to demolish the entire family at chess. She sent Selene out to fly with Hedwig, who enjoyed having another bird to race. And she demanded that the four Hogwarts students fill her in on everything.   
After hearing, for the fourth straight time about the Dursleys general awfulness, Angelica could take it no longer.   
"That's it!" she said, springing up from the kitchen table. "I'm going to get a house, and I'm taking you AWAY from those people!" she announced, and promptly walked out the door to begin her arrangements.   
She was back, slamming the door a second later, and cursing news crews everywhere. 


End file.
